Laughter in Court!

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas took a furniture store to court for medical costs and physical and mental suffering. She had broken her ankle after falling over a little boy who was running wild inside the store. The store owner was rather surprised to be the accused in a court case. The little boy was Ms Robertson’s son!

Eleven-year-old New Jersey boy Daniel Allen was running to catch a bus when he accidentally knocked over school teacher Eileen Blau. Daniel cried when he found out he had hurt the teacher. But two years later, she took him to court because of the injuries she had suffered. Apparently, the Allens’ insurance company had still not paid compensation for her medical care and lost earnings. During the court case Daniel told the judge, ‘I’m sorry I ran into her. It was an accident!’

A Colorado woman has sued two teenagers for giving her some cookies! Instead of going to a dance, Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18 decided to stay home and bake cookies for their neighbours. After they had finished baking, they added a heart shaped card to every packet of cookies. The card read, ‘Have a great night. Love, The T and L Club!’ Then, the girls went from house to house, and left a dozen cookies at every home where the lights were on. When the teens knocked on Wanita Young’s door, the 49-year-old woman called the police. She was afraid because there were suspicious people at her door. They hadn’t answered when she had asked them who they were. Later, Taylor explained that they hadn’t answered because they had wanted the gift to be a surprise. There were no witnesses, and the police decided that the girls had not committed a crime. However, the next day, Young went to hospital suffering from anxiety. A year later, she sued the girls for the cost of her medical bills.

Terrence **son had just robbed a house in Pennsylvania. However, he discovered that he couldn’t get out of the garage because the automatic door wasn’t working correctly. And he couldn’t get back in the house either because the door was locked. The family was on holiday, so Mr **son was stuck in the garage for eight days. He survived on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dried dog food. When he finally got out, Mr **son sued the homeowner’s insurance company. He claimed the situation had caused him mental anguish. It seems that even a burglar can ask a jury for money.

Kara Walton of Delaware went to court to get damages for something that was her own fault. She sued the owner of a night club because she had fallen from a bathroom window and lost her two front teeth. Why was she climbing through the window in the club? Was the door blocked? No, it was because she didn’t want to pay the $3.50 for using the toilet!

Some people just can’t accept responsibility for their own problems, but that’s not the case of Helmut Bleibtreu. In 2006, this 84-year-old German pensioner went to the police and confessed to a crime. He had placed a firecracker on a railway track in 1926, and had run away when railway police saw him. For 80 years he had lived with his guilt, but finally he felt he had to admit to the only bad thing he had ever done. The police told him not to do it again and set him free.